Publications

Pakistan although is a low prevalence in terms of HIV/AIDS, the sex industry in Pakistan is changing rapidly and becoming increasingly complicated with highly differentiated sub sectors. The most authoritative studies available from Asia suggest that sex market is vast and the Pakistan market seems to be increasingly contributing to the markets in Middle East, Asia as well as to the demands from London, all under the cover of dancing and singing troupes.

The rise in HIV/AIDS has continued unabated since the first three cases of HIV in Malaysia were diagnosed in 1986. In recent years, the numbers reported have increased at an average rate of about 500 to 600 per month, and more than 7,000 have died. As of December 2004, official reports document 64,439 people with HIV/AIDS in Malaysia (Ministry of Health 2005). Despite efforts in the national response to contain the spread of this infectious disease, the United Nations MDG Report 2005 concluded that Malaysia has achieved commendable successes towards all the MDGs except in halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS (UNDP 2005). There is a serious concern that the HIV/AIDS situation may escalate to a general epidemic in the near future.

India, along with other Member States adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS in June 2001. The Declaration of Commitment reflects global consensus on a comprehensive framework to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halting and beginning to reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2015.

Over the past two years, the response to HIV/AIDS across China has intensified, and the Chinese government has strengthened leadership in HIV/AIDS. Effective measures have been launched in each key area of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support for comprehensive work in these areas has improved considerably.

The good news is that HIV prevalence among adults continues to decrease. According to the 2003 HIV surveillance data released by the National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STIs (NCHADS) in December 2004, the estimate of the national prevalence of HIV stands at 1.9% of all people aged 15 to 49 years, down from 2.2% in 2001. In all sentinel groups that formed part of the HIV surveillance system, the decline in HIV prevalence is evident. Levels of awareness about HIV/AIDS have gone up, and behaviour has changed. The prevalence among ante-natal care (ANC) attendees declined from 2.9% in 1999 to 2.2% in 2003. Among sex workers prevalence decreased from over 40% to around 20% over the same period.

The category “men who have sex with men” (or males who have sex with males - MSM) was developed in response to a recognition that not all male-to-male sexual behaviours falls within a framework of sexual orientation or identity. In Bangladesh, the primary framework of male-to-male sex appears to be that based on gendered identities: males such as kothis or hijras who self-identify with the feminine, and males from the normative male population who self-identify as men.

The purpose of the 2005 Progress Report on the National Response to HIV is to provide a quick overview of the response to HIV and AIDS in Myanmar during the year. In its role as the coordinator of the national response to HIV and AIDS, the National AIDS Programme has collected data and information from all partners working on HIV in Myanmar, including those from Government Departments, United Nations organizations and national and international non-governmental organizations. This report there- fore presents a snapshot for 2005 of the collective activities of programmes on HIV in Myanmar.

For the past decade, the HIV situation in the Philippines has been described as "low and slow," indicating low prevalence rates and slow spread of the infection even among those regarded as most-at- risk populations (classified as "high risk groups"- HRG - in the surveillance surveys).

This paper reports estimates of the economic impact of HIV/AIDS in the Asian and Pacific region using a standard growth model. Following previous research on this issue, an economy wide aggregate production function is estimated with health capital as an input. HIV/AIDS is assumed to influence the accumulation of health capital proxied by a life expectancy shortfall measure. The model is estimated empirically using cross-country panel data spanning the period 1960–2000. Using a global sample, results indicate a negative impact of increasing HIV/AIDS prevalence on health capital and on economic growth. Using fairly conservative projections for HIV/AIDS prevalence, the model predicts a particularly large adverse impact on economic growth in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea.

In most countries, TB patients are increasingly being detected but the majority of HIV cases are not. The current knowledge of the interaction between the epidemics in the Region is restricted to those who access health services and are diagnosed with either disease. In order to address Region-specific issues in this area reflecting the current epidemiological situation and the status and capacity for delivering the necessary services in the countries, there has been a call from Member Countries in the Region to conduct a technical forum and to outline regional strategic directions for HIV surveillance among TB patients. WHO/SEARO has responded to this need by organizing an informal consultation of selected programme managers and experts, including those from countries in the Region that are facing a generalized or concentrated HIV epidemic.